Apple will unveil its first mixed reality headset at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2023 in two months, Bloomberg technology reporter Mark Gurman said in the latest Power On newsletter on Sunday, local time.
Apple’s choice of June 5 this year for its Worldwide Developers Conference is said to be historically significant. The company will unveil its first mixed reality headset at that time, a day that is expected to be the beginning of Apple’s post-iPhone era.
The headset is an adventure for Apple, but it could also become a classic. It heralds mixed reality as Apple’s next major product, allowing users to interact with the world through a headset instead of a touchscreen phone in their pocket.
Gurman said Apple is likely to showcase the new headset not only at the Worldwide Developers Conference, but also the xrOS operating system that powers the device, accompanying services and a software development kit and platform that will allow developers to write relevant new applications.
Gurman said some clues can be seen in the invitation to the Worldwide Developers Conference now.
The first of these images clearly outlines the Apple campus, suggesting that the conference’s opening ceremony will be held at the company’s headquarters. But the second image is more interesting. While on the surface its just an outline of the rainbow structure of Apple’s campus, it also looks similar to the curved lines of Apple’s headset when it is placed face up.
Image credit: Apple
The conference format also helps people understand what information Apple will release recently. This time around, Apple is reportedly planning to hold a keynote on the Apple campus, which will be webcast live, and may be followed by an experience at the company’s headquarters.
At last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple broadcast the keynote live on a giant outdoor display on the campus and let attendees get their hands on the M2 MacBook Air, and last fall, Apple showed a pre-recorded iPhone 14 keynote in the Steve Jobs Theater and then let attendees try out the new phone indoors.
For this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple is promising a “special all-day event” on campus, followed by online sessions for developers the rest of the day. This time around, Apple’s keynote will still be a pre-recorded video rather than a live demo. The reason for this is that more and more people are watching the event live, and a well-produced video will allow Apple PR and marketing to insist that “things are done right and there are no holes”.
After all, the last thing Apple wants is for the first mixed reality device to fail in a live demo, like the iPhone X’s Face ID unlock feature did in 2017. It also comes after a former Apple engineer revealed that when the first iPhone was released in 2007, the entire device would have crashed if Steve Jobs hadn’t followed a specific sequence of button clicks.
Apple’s release also underscores the importance of this year’s conference. Susan Prescott, director of developer relations, called the conference Apple’s “largest and most exciting to date” and said the company “can’t wait” to host “This is a very special event. While it’s common for Apple to use hyperbole, the company understands that with everyone looking forward to the headset, it won’t want to keep hanging on to people’s appetites if it can’t meet their original expectations.
In addition to the headset, Apple is also expected to unveil a number of new Mac computers at the conference, including the new MacBook Air and Mac Pro with Apple’s own built-in chips. various operating systems such as iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, tvOS 17 and macOS 14 will also be on display at the conference.
